


Study of couple, at rest in the library

by Margot_Lescargot



Category: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Genre: Extremely mild spoiler for False Value, Fluff, M/M, POV Molly (Rivers of London), established Seagale, shameless sweater deployment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:27:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22944748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Margot_Lescargot/pseuds/Margot_Lescargot
Summary: Molly made her way across the atrium.  She had no need of the electric lights, of course; the moonlight and the refracted glare of the streetlamps on the Square filtering through the glass dome in the roof were enough.A brief study - night time at the Folly
Relationships: Thomas Nightingale/Alexander Seawoll
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26
Collections: Burdens of Responsibility





	Study of couple, at rest in the library

**Author's Note:**

  * For [utrinque-paratus](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=utrinque-paratus).



> Fits into the Seagale Burdens of Responsibility 'verse (elsewhere on the site). Probably around about False Value, say.

Molly made her way across the atrium. She had no need of the electric lights, of course; the moonlight and the refracted glare of the streetlamps on the Square filtering through the glass dome in the roof were enough. She ticked off the evening’s tasks in her head, and was already thinking about the next day’s menu as she halted, without thinking, at the grandfather clock and began the nightly winding.

She surveyed the room idly as she did so, and was not surprised to see a light still shining underneath the door of the general library. The Nightingale and Alex had said they were going to retire there after dinner to review papers for a matter they were both working on; Peter had stayed and worked alongside them for a while, before returning to Beverley’s home. Molly knew this because she had intercepted him on his way out and induced him to walk Toby-Dog before he left. Again. She smiled at the thought. Poor Peter.

She closed the glass door of the clock case and was about to turn back towards the kitchen when she did a sharp double take. In the dim light she had almost missed it, but a crumpled shape on the floor by the library door, which was slightly ajar she now noticed, caught her eye. It looked like… a discarded bedsheet. Molly approached and picked it up; a bedsheet was indeed what it was, its snowy folds gleaming dully in the near-darkness.

She furrowed her brow and, after folding the sheet with speed and precision and placing it on a nearby chair, she carefully pushed the door of the library open.

Foxglove, as suspected, was seated in a high-backed chair, legs crossed, with her sketch pad on her knee. She had been drawing intently, in charcoals, but looked up at Molly’s entrance, shook her head slightly and went back to her work. Molly followed her gaze and saw what it was she had taken as a subject.

The Nightingale and Alex were seated on the library sofa, fast asleep. They were still surrounded by papers so it seemed that slumber had taken them both unawares; they had had a series of fiendishly early mornings lately, Molly reflected. Whilst some papers remained on the seat cushions, some had drifted to the floor, and Molly approached the sofa carefully, gathered them together and placed them for safe keeping on the main library desk.

She went to stand next to Foxglove and looked over her shoulder at the drawing. In relatively few bold but suggestive strokes, she had captured the couple in front of her. As she had so often seen them, when they thought they were unobserved, Alex had one arm around the Nightingale whose head rested on his shoulder. The Nightingale had, in sleep or perhaps before, turned towards Alex to embrace him, and his arm lay across his stomach, his hand slipped underneath the sweater Alex wore.

Molly took a blanket and placed it gently over them; neither stirred, their breathing deep and rhythmic. She turned and raised an eyebrow at Foxglove, who looked down at her sketch pad and shrugged slightly. Molly nodded imperceptibly and made her way back to the kitchen, closing the door gently behind her.


End file.
